Anto
10-27-2009, 06:10 PM
Link (http://www.mnn.com/transportation/cars/blogs/build-your-own-cheap-electric-car-these-guys-did)
"Do you like the idea of a $2,009 electric sports car? So do I! The Pontiac Fiero built by Bryce Nash is known as “Project: Parts Bin,” and it was constructed out of a worn-out 1988 plastic-bodied Fiero and a unique junkyard find: an electric Chevy S10 pickup truck. You can build your own electric car, too. Read on.
Here, on video, you can see how some Canadians built their own electric cars:
Link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi9KseeZyoc&feature=player_embedded)
Nash's mid-engined Fiero retained its V-6 powerplant but added a complete electric drivetrain in the front. Nash outfitted the neatly built “hybrid” with two accelerator pedals, so he can move out on batteries or gas power. That saved considerably on the power electronics in regular hybrids, and it echoed the approach taken by early hybrid pioneers in the 1910s.
The Fiero came in third for “Best Engineering,” and 20th overall in the Grassroots Motorsports “$2009 Challenge.” The idea, of course, was to build a competitive vehicle for $2,009 (it will be $2,010 next year) and face off against other cheapskates in a Gainesville, Fla., competition held a couple of weeks ago. Jay Leno, in a videotaped message says, “Building a car for $2,009 and beating the heck out of it — what’s more fun than that?” he asked.
“It’s a really neat installation,” said Rennie Bryant, a Challenge organizer who doubles as a Pompano Beach BMW repair guy. “You can’t even tell it’s electric. It’s all-GM, so it looks like it all belongs where it is.”
The Fiero is slow and steady. "It may not have been the fastest thing at the competition, but it was the most innovative," said Tom Heath of Grassroots Motorsports. "It's a terrific car, with terrific packaging and really works as a whole assembly. For a first-year entry from a guy with no electrical engineering background it was really impressive. And working with junkyard parts really helped: To duplicate that car from scratch would have cost many thousands of dollars. But he was under our $2,009 budget with room to spare."
The rules of the Challenge are pretty simple: All the money invested in the cars, including the purchase price, can’t total more than $2,009 (only safety equipment is excluded). Competitors in 2009 included:
•A Mazda Miata with the V-8 drivetrain of a wrecked Lexus LS400 (how did that one handle, I wonder?) built by some Georgia Tech engineering students;
•A turbocharged ’93 Honda Civic via Texas A&M;
•The “Zamboni,” a 1959 tube-chassis V-8 kit car;
•A '74 Volkswagen Super Beetle."
"Do you like the idea of a $2,009 electric sports car? So do I! The Pontiac Fiero built by Bryce Nash is known as “Project: Parts Bin,” and it was constructed out of a worn-out 1988 plastic-bodied Fiero and a unique junkyard find: an electric Chevy S10 pickup truck. You can build your own electric car, too. Read on.
Here, on video, you can see how some Canadians built their own electric cars:
Link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi9KseeZyoc&feature=player_embedded)
Nash's mid-engined Fiero retained its V-6 powerplant but added a complete electric drivetrain in the front. Nash outfitted the neatly built “hybrid” with two accelerator pedals, so he can move out on batteries or gas power. That saved considerably on the power electronics in regular hybrids, and it echoed the approach taken by early hybrid pioneers in the 1910s.
The Fiero came in third for “Best Engineering,” and 20th overall in the Grassroots Motorsports “$2009 Challenge.” The idea, of course, was to build a competitive vehicle for $2,009 (it will be $2,010 next year) and face off against other cheapskates in a Gainesville, Fla., competition held a couple of weeks ago. Jay Leno, in a videotaped message says, “Building a car for $2,009 and beating the heck out of it — what’s more fun than that?” he asked.
“It’s a really neat installation,” said Rennie Bryant, a Challenge organizer who doubles as a Pompano Beach BMW repair guy. “You can’t even tell it’s electric. It’s all-GM, so it looks like it all belongs where it is.”
The Fiero is slow and steady. "It may not have been the fastest thing at the competition, but it was the most innovative," said Tom Heath of Grassroots Motorsports. "It's a terrific car, with terrific packaging and really works as a whole assembly. For a first-year entry from a guy with no electrical engineering background it was really impressive. And working with junkyard parts really helped: To duplicate that car from scratch would have cost many thousands of dollars. But he was under our $2,009 budget with room to spare."
The rules of the Challenge are pretty simple: All the money invested in the cars, including the purchase price, can’t total more than $2,009 (only safety equipment is excluded). Competitors in 2009 included:
•A Mazda Miata with the V-8 drivetrain of a wrecked Lexus LS400 (how did that one handle, I wonder?) built by some Georgia Tech engineering students;
•A turbocharged ’93 Honda Civic via Texas A&M;
•The “Zamboni,” a 1959 tube-chassis V-8 kit car;
•A '74 Volkswagen Super Beetle."